Updated estimate of the breeding population of Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) at Penguin Point, Marambio / Seymour Island within the proposed Weddell Sea Marine Protected Area

Perchivale, Pablo J.; Juáres, Mariana A.; Santos, Mercedes; Marti, Lucas J.; Silvestro, Anahí M.; Coria, Néstor Rubén

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-2117503/v1

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 24 publications

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“…agiso ft. com/) commercial photogrammetry software using structure-from-motion processing 40 . 1985 21954 (N1) 68 Ground 2000 20061 (C3) 69 Ground/mas 2006 26400 (N4) 67 Ground 2009 16015 (N2) 67 Ground 2014 29069 (N1) 70 Ground To determine the total number of penguin chicks in RPAS image orthomosaics, individual penguins were marked and counted by trained remote-sensing analysts using GIS software. Each penguin within the study area colony was delineated by appending a spatial data point to its location using ArcGIS Pro (Version 2.8).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adélie penguins north and east of the ‘Adélie gap’ continue to thrive in the face of dramatic declines elsewhere in the Antarctic Peninsula region

Wethington

Flynn

Borowicz

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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While population declines among Adélie penguins and population increases among gentoo penguins on the Western Antarctic Peninsula are well established, the logistical challenges of operating in the sea ice-heavy northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula have prohibited reliable monitoring of seabirds in this region. Here we describe the findings of an expedition to the northern and eastern sides of the Antarctic Peninsula—a region at the nexus of two proposed Marine Protected Areas—to investigate the distribution and abundance of penguins in this region. We discovered several previously undocumented penguin colonies, completed direct surveys of three colonies initially discovered in satellite imagery, and re-surveyed several colonies last surveyed more than a decade ago. Whereas our expectation had been that the Peninsula itself would divide the areas undergoing ecological transition and the apparently more stable Weddell Sea region, our findings suggest that the actual transition zone lies in the so-called "Adélie gap," a 400-km stretch of coastline in which Adélies are notably absent. Our findings suggest that the region north and east of this gap represents a distinct ecoregion whose dynamics stand in sharp contrast to surrounding areas and is likely to be impacted by future conservation measures.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adélie penguins north and east of the ‘Adélie gap’ continue to thrive in the face of dramatic declines elsewhere in the Antarctic Peninsula region

Wethington

Flynn

Borowicz

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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Penguin guano: an important source of climate-relevant aerosol in Antarctica

Boyer,

Quéléver,

Brasseur

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Gaseous ammonia, while influential in atmospheric processes, is critically underrepresented in atmospheric measurements. This limits our understanding of key climate-relevant processes, such as new particle formation, particularly in remote regions. Here, we present highly sensitive, online observations of gaseous ammonia from a coastal site in Antarctica, which allows us to constrain the mechanism of new particle formation in this region in unprecedented detail. Our observations show that penguin colonies are a large source of ammonia in coastal Antarctica, whereas ammonia originating from the Southern Ocean is, in comparison, negligible. In conjunction with sulfur compounds sourced from oceanic microbiology, ammonia initiates new particle formation and is an important source of cloud condensation nuclei. Dimethyl amine, likely originating from penguin guano, also participates in the initial steps of particle formation, effectively boosting particle formation rates up to 10000 times. These findings emphasize the importance of local fauna (penguin/bird colonies and oceanic phytoplankton/bacteria) on climate-relevant aerosol processes in coastal Antarctica. This demonstrates an important connection between ecosystem and atmospheric processes that impact the Antarctic climate, which is crucial given the current rate of environmental changes in the region.

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Updated estimate of the breeding population of Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) at Penguin Point, Marambio / Seymour Island within the proposed Weddell Sea Marine Protected Area

Cited by 2 publications

References 24 publications

Adélie penguins north and east of the ‘Adélie gap’ continue to thrive in the face of dramatic declines elsewhere in the Antarctic Peninsula region

Adélie penguins north and east of the ‘Adélie gap’ continue to thrive in the face of dramatic declines elsewhere in the Antarctic Peninsula region

Penguin guano: an important source of climate-relevant aerosol in Antarctica

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